Academic Events
Faculty Work in Progress: “Gendered Arts of Survival in the Old French Philomena” by Prof. Joseph Johnson (French and Francophone Studies”. Discussant: Prof. Sarah McNamer (Director, Global Medieval Studies Program)
Professor Joseph Johnson will discuss his current research, exploring one of the most graphically violent and disturbing tales in all of medieval literature: “Philomena,” an Old French translation and adaptation of the story of Philomela from Ovid’s Metamorphoses. He will argue that when the eponymous heroine weaves a narrative tapestry depicting the crimes of her captor, she works alongside the medieval scribes and illustrators who preserved her grisly tale.